The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Author’s new book shines light on world of human trafficking
She has spent years working with impoverished street children in India.
And now Perth author Avril Duncan’s long-time involvement with the Free to Live Trust is reflected in her debut novel.
Diverted Traffic is a fast-paced thriller with a distinctive Scottish voice, taking the reader on a journey through Edinburgh, the seedy underbelly of Amsterdam nightlife and Maharashtra, a region of India where she has worked tirelessly supporting vulnerable youngsters for nearly 20 years.
Avril – wife of retired bank manager Bill – has drawn on a wealth of experience gained as a founder member of the Free to Live Trust, which is dedicated to releasing and rehabilitating victims from sexual slavery.
Her first novel shines a much-needed light on the continuing international scandal of human trafficking and sexual slavery, from which contemporary Scotland is not immune.
Diverted Traffic tells the harrowing tale of Suman, a nine-year-old girl seized from her rural village in India before being trafficked and taken to work in the Amsterdam sex industry.
In a varied career, Avril, who studied at Lampeter University, has worked for many years in management within the charitable sector, most recently with WRVS, NHS (Macmillan Cancer
Support) and Crossroads Caring for Carers.
While this is her first foray into the world of fiction, Avril has been writing poems and short stories most of her life.
“The idea for my book began many years ago when a cousin used to tell me tales of his adventures as an anticounterfeit officer with a whisky company,” said Avril.
“Alongside what I was learning about human trafficking in India and locally, it was a natural story to tell – fiction interwoven with fact.”